434 GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. [part iv. 



rivers of India and the Malay Islands ; Achames the rivers of 

 British Guiana. 



Family 34— POLYCENTRIDiE. (2 Genera, 3 Species.) 



"Fresh- water carnivorous fishes, with compressed elevated 

 scaly bodies, and raany-spined dorsal and anal fins." 



Distribution. — Rivers of Tropical America. 



Family 35.— LABYRINTHICI. (9 Genera, 25 Species.) 



"Fresh- water fishes, with compressed oblong bodies, and 

 capable of living for some time out of water or in dried mud." 



Distribution. — Freshwaters of South Africa and the East 

 Indies from the Mauritius to China, the Philippines, Celebes, 

 and Amboyna. 



Family 36.— LUCIOCEPHALID^. (1 Genus, 1 Species.) 



" Fresh- water fish, with elongate scaled body, and a dilated 

 branchial membrane." 



Distribution. — Rivers of Borneo, Biliton, and Banca. 



Family 37.— ATHERINID^E. (3 Genera, 39 Species.) 



" Marine or fresh-water carnivorous fishes, with subcylind- 

 rical scaled bodies, and feeble dentition." 



Distribution. — All temperate and tropical seas, from Scotland 

 and New York to the Straits of Magellan and Tasmania. 



Atherina presbyter occurs in British seas. Species df Atherina 

 and Atherinichthis are found in fresh-water lakes and rivers in 

 Europe, America, and Australia. 



